Friday, March 13, 2009

From "international peace cooperation activities" asconducted in Cambodia or Africa in the 90's to nearwar scenario and military operations today. Japanstretches the Fundamental Law to fit military options.One step to enforce the fundamental mission of theJSDF means that for the first time in its history theJSDF's core purpose necessarily involves missionsoutside of Japan.

Japan's coast guard officials capture men playing arole of pirates, kneeling down in front, during ananti-piracy exercise off port of Kure, Hiroshima,western Japan (February 2009)

Guarantee free SLOC & oil imports to Japan:

The JMSDF special units such as the SBU and CoastGuards officers will be part of the forces sent tocombat pirates in the Horn of Africa by Japan. Firstpolicing action abroad since World War II for Japan'sSelf-Defense Forces, with the dispatch of MaritimeSelf-Defense Force destroyers on an anti-piracy missionoff the coast of Somalia, whose major missionsoverseas have so far been largely rear-area support,such as refueling, transportation and reconstructionmissions.

Pirates speed boats

The Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) andthe Japanese government face legal problems on how tohandle attacks by pirates against ships that eitherhave Japanese personnel, cargo or are under foreigncontrol instead of being under Japanese control ascurrent Constitution Article 9 regulations would hampertheir actions when deployed to Somalia.

The Sazanami a Takanami class destroyer with a Mk-48Vertical Launch System.

On February 4, 2009, the JMSDF sent a fact-findingmission led by Gen Nakatani to the horn of Africaregion prior to the deployment of the Murasame-classdestroyer JDS DD-106 Samidare and the Takanami-classdestroyer JDS DD-113 Sazanami to the coast of Somalia.Both JMSDF vessels are units of the 8th EscortDivision of the 4th Escort Flotilla based in Kure,Hiroshima Prefecture.

Order based on the law's Article 82, which stipulatesthat the SDF may take necessary actions at sea tosafeguard Japanese lives and property in situationsthat exceed the capacity of the Japan Coast Guard.Simultaneously a bill will enable the deployment ofthe SDF abroad as needed to deal with pirate attackson the high seas.

Once the order is given, two destroyers, the 4,650-tonSazanami and 4,550-ton Samidare of the 8th EscortDivision of the 4th Escort Flotilla, are to leavetheir base in Kure, Hiroshima Prefecture, on Saturdayafternoon.

A total of roughly 400 MSDF personnel and eight coastguard officers will board the ships, each to carryonboard two SH-60K patrol helicopters and twospeedboats, according to the Defense Ministry. Members of the commando-style MSDF Special BoardingUnit will also board the ships to deal with encounterswith Somali pirates, who are said to be armed withsuch weapons as rockets and automatic rifles.

The fleet is expected to take two to three weeks toarrive in the gulf, making it likely that the escortmission will begin around early April. The destroyerswill escort Japan-linked ships, Japanese registeredships, foreign ships with Japanese nationals orshipments on board, and other ships operated byJapanese shipping firms.

Coast guard officers will be at hand aboard thedestroyers to process judicial matters, includingcollecting criminal evidence and handling crimesuspects, in case the destroyers run into pirates. Insuch encounters, MSDF personnel may fire warning shotsto ward off pirates. But under the maritime policingprovision, they cannot harm the bandits except underlimited circumstances, such as for self- defense.Japan also plans to deploy MSDF P-3C patrol aircraftto the gulf in several months to watch over the vastsea.

More than a dozen countries, including Russia, China,the US and the European Union have deployed theirnaval vessels to waters around the Horn of Africa onanti-piracy missions under the authority of U.N.Security Council resolutions. Piracy has been rampantin the waters, accounting for 111 cases last year, ormore than double the cases reported a year earlier.That accounted for roughly one-third of all pirateincidents in the world.

And here is the JMSDF SBU badge, the Japanese forces secretive Special Boarding Unit.

The Special Boarding Unit is a special forces unitestablished by the Japanese Maritime Self-DefenseForces on March 27, 2001 in response to a previous spyship incursion that occurred on the Noto Peninsula in1999. The unit was created to perform similar roles tothose undertaken by French GIGN or American Navy SEALsand the British SBS. Their field involves maritimeanti-terrorist duties, including operations where armsare known to be involved. However, their duties andresponsibilities overlap with those of the SpecialSecurity Team, the Japan Coast Guard's counterterrorist unit. SBU is a special forces unit andhighly classified subject and opacity surrounds theirrole in case of combat with pirates.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Tension in China seas as Beijing sends warships.(Quotes from FAS, IPCS and reporting)

"China’s long standing land based survival strategy islikely to become history soon." 'The Chinese Navy’sdecision to send warships to the Somalia coast lastJanuary, soon after UN Resolution 1851 on 16 December2008, coincided with its first public confirmation, on24 December 2008, that it was “seriously considering”building an aircraft carrier.

These announcements reflect the Asian giant’s growinginterest in the maritime domain. Despite a coastlinestretching approximately 14,500km in length, China hastraditionally focused on inland security.

China’s recognition of its need to have a far-reachingmaritime sphere stems from its decision to protect itsinterests as well as its desire to seek great powerstatus.

For Beijing, (as for Tokyo) protecting the sea line ofcommunication (SLOC) is essential as China is theworld’s second-largest oil consumer and thethird-largest importer.

These announcements reflect the Asian giant’s growinginterest in the maritime domain. Despite a coastlinestretching approximately 14,500km in length, China hastraditionally focused on inland security.

Among the Asian Navies, the Chinese Navy has the mostpowerful submarine-fleet. According to the MilitaryBalance 2008, China has about 70 submarines includingthree ballistic-missile submarines (SSBN) which areinvolved in conducting frequent patrols far from themainland.'

News media reported half a dozen incidents just withinthe past week in which U.S. surveillance vessels weremonitored in Asia waters including dozens of ChineseY-12 maritime surveillance aircraft and on Sunday theUS MoD (Pentagon) stated that five Chinese vessels hadblocked and surrounded the U.S. surveillance ship,Impeccable, in Asia international waters. One of theships came within 25 feet of the U.S. boat, accordingto the Pentagon.

China criticized the United States on Tuesday, blaminga U.S. Navy ship for violating international lawduring a tense confrontation near a Chinese submarinebase.

A Chinese sailor used a long grappling hook to try tosnag a cable that the Impeccable was using to tow anunderwater listening device known as a Surtass array.

“The U.S. claims are gravely in contravention of thefacts and confuse black and white, and they aretotally unacceptable to China,” said Ma Zhaoxu, aForeign Ministry spokesman.

The latest incident allegedly occurred in the Asiainternational waters only 75 miles south of a navalbase near Yulin on Hainan Island from where China hasstarted operating new nuclear attack and ballisticmissile submarines.

US Impeccable

The U.S. Navy on its part is collecting data on theChinese submarines and seafloor to improve its abilityto detect the submarines in peacetime and moreefficiently hunt them in case of war.

Such case with the USNS Impeccable which is equippedwith the Surveillance Towed Array Sensor System(SURTASS), a passive linear underwater surveillancearray attached to a tow cable.

SURTASS was developed as a floating submarinedetection system for deep waters, and the Navy wantsto add an active Low Frequency Array (LFA) to improvelong-range detection of submarines in shallow waters.

Among Chinese submarines the USNS Impeccable wasmonitoring is "probably the Shang-class (Type-093)nuclear-powered attack submarine", a new class Chinais building to replace the old Han-class, and whichhas recently been seen at the Yulin base, according tothe FAS quotes.

A commercial satellite image taken September 15, 2008,shows two Shang-class submarines present at the base,the first time that two Shang-class SSNs have beenseen at the base at the same time, according to Fas.

The Impeccable incident came just a week after the twocountries resumed high-level talks between theirmilitaries. The dialogue had been broken off lastyear by the Chinese over a $6.5 billion American armsdeal with Taiwan.

The dispute also comes in the wake of a recent visitto China by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Herrecent visit in Beijing was part of a tour of theAsia-Pacific region, including Japan and Indonesia inher first overseas trip for President Obama’sadministration.

And just after Mrs. Clinton left China, the StateDepartment angered Beijing with a broad set ofcriticisms of its human rights record in 2008.Followed by criticism on trade issues between the USand China...

I am heading soon to the strategic islands of Okinawato have a look at these dangerous naval games with an"Umi no Kuni" viewpoint angle.